pgs. 172 and 173...now Abinadi said unto them; I know if ye keep the commandments of God ye shall be saved.

30 Know ye not that I speak the ^atruth? Yea, ye know that I speak the truth; and you ought to tremble before God.

31 And it shall come to pass that ye shall be smitten for your iniquities, for ye have said that ye teach the law of Moses. And what know ye concerning the law of Moses? ^aDoth salvation come by the law of Moses? What say ye?

32 And they answered and said that salvation did come by the law of Moses.

33 But now Abinadi said unto them: I know if ye ^akeep the commandments of God ye shall be saved; yea, if ye keep the commandments which the Lord delivered unto Moses in the mount of ^bSinai, saying:

34 ^aI am the Lord thy God, who hath ^bbrought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

35 Thou shalt have no ^aother God before me.

36 ^aThou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing in heaven above, or things which are in the earth beneath.

37 Now Abinadi said unto them, Have ye done all this? I say unto you, Nay, ye have not. And have ye ^ataught this people that they should do all these things? I say unto you, Nay, ye have not.

THE BOOK OF MOSIAH

CHAPTER 13

Abinadi is protected by divine power—He teaches the Ten Commandments—Salvation does not come by the law of Moses alone—God himself shall make an atonement and redeem his people. About 148 B.C.

1 And now when the king had heard these words, he said unto his priests: Away with this fellow, and slay him; for what have we to do with him, for he is ^amad.

2 And they stood forth and attempted to lay their hands on him; but he withstood them, and said unto them:

3 ^aTouch me not, for God shall smite you if ye lay your hands upon me, for I have not delivered the message which the Lord sent me to deliver; neither have I told you that which ye ^brequested that I should tell; therefore, God will not suffer that I shall be destroyed at this time.

4 But I must fulfil the commandments wherewith God has commanded me; and because I have told you the truth ye are angry with me. And again, because I have spoken the word of God ye have judged me that I am mad.

5 Now it came to pass after Abinadi had spoken these words that the people of king Noah durst not lay their hands on him, for the Spirit of the Lord was upon him; and his face ^ashone with exceeding luster, even as Moses’ did while in the mount of Sinai, while speaking with the Lord.

6 And he spake with ^apower and authority from God; and he continued his words, saying:

7 Ye see that ye have not power to slay me, therefore I finish my ^amessage. Yea, and I perceive that it cuts you to your hearts because I tell you the truth concerning your iniquities.

8 Yea, and my words fill you with wonder and amazement, and with anger.

9 But I finish my message; and then it ^amatters not whither I go, if it so be that I am saved.

10 But this much I tell you, what you ^ado with me, after this, shall be as a ^btype and a shadow of things which are to come.

11 And now I read unto you the remainder of the ^acommandments of God, for I perceive that they are not written in your hearts; I perceive that ye have studied and taught ^biniquity the most part of your lives.

12 And now, ye remember that I ^asaid unto you: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of things which are in heaven above, or which are in the earth beneath, or which are in the water under the earth.

13 And again: Thou shalt not ^abow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generations of them that hate me;

14 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

15 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him ^aguiltless that taketh his name in vain.

16 Remember the ^asabbath day, to keep it holy.

17 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work;

18 But the seventh day, the sabbath of the Lord thy God, thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates;

19 For in ^asix days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is; wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

20 ^aHonor thy ^bfather and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

21 Thou shalt not ^akill.

22 Thou shalt not commit ^aadultery. Thou shalt not ^bsteal.

23 Thou shalt not bear ^afalse witness against thy neighbor.

24 Thou shalt not ^acovet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.

25 And it came to pass that after Abinadi had made an end of these sayings that he said unto them: Have ye ^ataught this people that they should observe to do all these things for to keep these commandments?

26 I say unto you, Nay; for if ye had, the Lord would not have caused me to come forth and to prophesy evil concerning this people.

27 And now ye have said that salvation cometh by the law of Moses. I say unto you that it is expedient that ye should ^akeep the law of Moses as yet; but I say unto you, that the time shall come when it shall ^bno more be expedient to keep the law of Moses.

Abinadi is an excellent example of courage and conviction. I love this painting by Arnold Frieberg because it helps me picture how much ridicule and derision Abinadi actually faced. His willingness to preach the commandments of God to the kings wicked priests even though he knew they wanted to condemn him for it is an example to all of us today, especially full time missionaries. I wonder which part of his speech touched Alma and brought about his conversion???